


The Seed

by Assassin_J



Series: desmond is trans and also it's protocreed sometimes [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Assassin's Creed III, Complete, F/M, I apologize in advance, I repeat this is Not A Happy Story, Implied Death, Modern Assassins, Mpreg, Not a Happy Story, One Shot, Shaun tries to provide comic relief, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Transgender Pregnancy, Unwanted Pregnancy, Whump, not-a-traitor!Lucy, rape mention, self-harm mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you understand now, my soft tissue cipher? Your construction, your essential purpose in the world?"</p><p>"Look, bitch, I'm having a rough enough time already carrying your magical rape baby, I don't wanna hear about how that's somehow my 'purpose'. Just leave me alone."</p><p>(Juno plans her rebirth.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seed

**Author's Note:**

> fucking hell I wrote another mpreg

At first Shaun was horrified.

Well, no.

At _very_ first, Shaun simply didn't believe it.

Desmond could not be pregnant. Desmond was a man. A completely male man.

And Shaun said as much. "He's a _man_! A completely _male_ man! I'm no specialist on reproductive biology, but I'm extremely sure that males do not physically _have_ that capability!"

Lucy glowered, the sharp lines of her face twitching like she was restraining herself from lashing out verbally at the historian.

"It must be the Apple or something," was the best explanation Rebecca had.

"The Apple got him pregnant," Shaun mocked back at her, rolling his eyes. "You're bloody mental."

"Look, I'm just telling you what the system's telling me!" Rebecca flung a hand out at the computer screen. "It's picking up wacked-out hormone levels and extra DNA and everything. Sure it's kind of ridiculous, but I don't hear _you_ offering a more likely diagnosis."

William, for his part, was sitting stock still, arms rigidly crossed and jaw slightly slack. He'd been frozen like that since the P-word had fallen from Rebecca's lips two minutes ago.

"It's not completely ridiculous, is it?" she asked now, looking back and forth between Shaun and William.

"Yes, it is," Shaun insisted. "There is no bloody way he's _pregnant_. Your system's malfunctioning is all."

Rebecca poked at Desmond's midriff, but gingerly, as if afraid he might suddenly wake from his coma. "You gotta admit he does look a little tubbier than usual."

Shaun groaned and stalked away, back to his computer and his coffee.

 

* * *

 

Rebecca wouldn't let the idea go. She wanted to go out and bring back an ultrasound machine, never mind the risk of accidentally exposing their location.

"I gotta know for sure, Bill," she implored the elder Assassin. "If Baby's malfunctioning then that's a real liability for us. And... and if he really is pregnant, then..." Her face was a conflicted mix of emotions. "Then... then we gotta keep tabs on things somehow, don't we?"

William sighed heavily.

 

* * *

 

"What's that you've got there?" Shaun came over to peer at the thing as Rebecca and Lucy took it out of its crate. "It's twenty-twelve, why do they even still make CRT TVs?"

"It's not a TV. It's an ultrasound machine."

"Wha- That's-" Shaun shook his head and laughed. "You're not still thinking he's pregnant? I mean... where would it even be growing?"

"In his uterus," came William's voice as he walked up to them.

"Come off it, Bill; he doesn't _have_ a uterus."

"Yes he does." William unfolded a chair and sat down next to his unconscious son. "I... I didn't want to reveal this without Desmond's consent, but... the situation is forcing my hand."

"Reveal what?" Shaun looked utterly baffled.

"Desmond is..." William swallowed and glanced over to Lucy, as if asking her permission to continue.

Lucy shrugged and sighed. "You've already started saying it. Might as well follow through to the end." She brushed a hand over Desmond's hair. "I'll defend you if he gets angry about it later."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Desmond is..." William sagged back into the chair and gave Shaun a hard look. "When he was born, we named him Denise."

"Oh." Struck by sudden clarity, Rebecca looked up from flipping through the ultrasound manual. "That explains a lot, actually."

Shaun, however, didn't get it. "Dennis?"

"Den _ise_ ," William repeated.

"But that's-"

"We thought he was a girl."

"Why did you-"

"Because he looked like a girl."

Eyes twitching, Shaun pointed to Desmond. "Sure doesn't look like one now."

Rebecca thwacked Shaun with the manual. "Goddamn, you sure are dense for a guy who prides himself on connecting the dots."

 

* * *

 

"I..." This- _this_ \- was the bit that horrified him. The blobular movement on the monitor, the fuzzy grayscale shapes that were only just _barely_ recognizable as a head, torso, arms. "I'll be bloody buggered."

Rebecca forced a weak laugh. "Remember back in Monteriggioni? You said he just had a big lunch."

William looked from the screen to Desmond and then back again. "He's... really... pregnant."

"Sure as fuck looks that way, Bill. As if we didn't have enough on our plates already." Shaun crossed his arms, eyes narrowed sharply. "Now what?"

"Now..." William sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

Rebecca sidled up to Lucy. "So... you and he..."

Lucy looked at her, a bit puzzled. "It's no secret we like each other."

"I didn't know you did the deed with him, though."

Lucy froze up.

"I mean, didn't you tell me you don't like doing stuff with your..."

"We didn't!" Lucy managed to hiss through gritted teeth. "And even if we did, the hormones we're both on don't exactly contribute to fertility."

"Oh." Rebecca covered her mouth sheepishly. "So... it must've been the Apple after all, huh. I don't get _why_ , but, that's gotta be how. Unless..." She tilted her head back, thinking, or perhaps avoiding eye contact. "Um... maybe, while he was... at Abstergo?"

Lucy looked thoroughly disgusted. "I'm pretty damn sure Desmond would have mentioned it sometime if a Templar sexually assaulted him. Especially in _that_ way."

 

* * *

 

Days went by and Desmond's comatose body showed no signs of waking. The only change was the steady growth of his stomach.

"I'm a little worried," Lucy admitted over dinner one night. "It can't be normal for him to be showing this much already, can it?"

"What, like everything was normal before that?" Shaun said.

William nodded. "It's worrisome, yes. But, again, I don't know what we can do about it."

"...Maybe he'll miscarry."

Everyone looked at Shaun suddenly.

"I, er." He coughed into his hand. "He _is_ in a coma, after all. Not exactly conducive to a healthy pregnancy, is it? So maybe things will... work themselves out?" he finished hesitantly.

"Maybe." Lucy looked over at Desmond again. It was his dinnertime as well: right now a tube was dripping liquid nutrition into his system. They'd increased his feeds after confirming the pregnancy, mostly out of concern that the fetus would drain him too much otherwise. "But he's gone this far already, so... I doubt it."

 

* * *

 

Made hopeful by the sparking brainwaves, they all crowded around him as he edged back into consciousness.

Lucy had his hand in hers, and when it was no longer the limp weight it had been for too long, she turned from the vital sign monitor to look at the man himself, his eyes cracking open. "Oh Desmond, thank goodness you're back with us."

"I.... I know what we need to do," he whispered, barely audible over the faint hum of machinery.

"Great," Shaun interjected loudly. "Speaking of knowing things, do you know who the father is?"

Still lying down, Desmond turned his head and blinked slowly at Shaun. "Wha?"

"Shaun!" Rebecca hissed, shooting him a glare.

"Look, I can't be the only one wondering this! Bill's little revelation notwithstanding, it still takes two to tango! And as far as I know, nobody's shagged him lately!" Shaun paused for a beat. "Unless... on one of those night-time jaunts in Monteriggioni, perhaps?"

Desmond closed his eyes again and groaned softly.

"Are you all right, son?" William asked him, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm... brain fried..."

"Well, you're awake. That's something." William exchanged glances with Rebecca and Lucy, all three of them wondering how to properly break the news.

"Oh, I bet you're well hungry too, mate," Shaun said through a wicked grin. He wasn't worried about propriety, it seemed. "These past couple weeks, you haven't been eating solid food at all, let alone solid food for two!"

"Wha' fuck's he talk'n 'bout?" Desmond slurred.

"Ah. Well..." William cleared his throat. "You... you're..." He rubbed Desmond's shoulder, hoping thereby to soften the blow of the incoming statement. "Pregnant. Somehow."

Desmond's eyes flickered back open and searched around the van. "Dad?" he said after a few seconds. "You're really here... I heard... but I wasn't sure..."

"Yes. It's me."

Desmond didn't respond except to haltingly attempt sitting up. William and Rebecca assisted him a bit. "God, I'm sore. An' I feel like puke."

"Mm," William acknowledged. "That's understandable."

"Yes, I think that's pretty much par for the course with pregnancy," Shaun said.

Desmond rubbed his aching temples. "Mrm. I don' wanna alarm anyone too much, but are we sure I'm really awake?"

"You're awake," Rebecca assured him.

"Awake and pregnant," Shaun reiterated. "You seem to be taking that latter bit quite well."

Desmond stared at him. "Okay, so, if this isn't a fucked-up coma dream, why d'you keep saying I'm pregnant?"

"Because you are."

Desmond sighed. "Look, guys, I just did a big important synch nexus thing and found out where the Grand Temple is. So now's not really the time for jokes, especially weird stupid ones like this."

"It's not a joke, Des." Lucy patted his hand.

He shoved her away. "God, Lucy, you of all people! Drop the act, it's not funny!" He snapped his head to look at William. "And you! Why the fuck are _you_ playing along with this shit? You used to be cool about... about my stuff," he finished vaguely, his eyes flickering at the others.

William sighed. "We can show you the sonogram images if you like."

Desmond bared his teeth in a snarling scowl. "I'm a _man_. You used to understand that."

"You're a man with a uterus," Rebecca said- Desmond turned his scowl on her, but she kept on talking- "and there's obviously something in it." She gestured at the swollen area in question.

Desmond pulled his jacket over the bump. "Fuck _off_ , okay! Yeah, I'm trans, you assholes, and maybe I gained some weight lately, but seriously, this Grand Temple is kind of a big deal! The sun's gonna burn us all to ash if we don't get there and press the big 'Save World' button in time!"

 

* * *

 

He refused to look at the sonogram images. He wasn't pregnant, goddammit. It was all a grossly insensitive practical joke.

Everyone mostly avoided talking to him as the van rolled along towards the coördinates he'd provided.

When they got to the Temple and he started wobbling on his feet, William dove to catch him just a moment before he fainted completely. "God, Desmond," he breathed, falling to sit crosslegged with his son's head cradled in his lap. "Please be all right."

 

* * *

 

Desmond came to in a couple minutes, lying on an invisible intangible floor. "You put me in the Animus again. Great." He sat up and frowned at the endless sky. "Y'know, this won't work if I'm allegedly pregnant."

"We've gotta try," Rebecca said. "Unless you feel like giving up on the world-saving thing."

Desmond groaned in defeat. "Fine, load up whatever fucking ancestor I gotta sync this time."

"Hold on a bit while I make a few adjustments."

Desmond swore he could feel the flickers of code being edited, see a subtle shift in the abstract lines of the loading area. "What kinda adjustments?"

"Um. The obvious? Adjustments to bypass the fetal DNA in your system."

"There's no goddamn fetal DNA in my system!"

"Sure, whatever."

 

* * *

 

Later, Shaun made jokes. It was less horrifying that way. "Guess you've really succeeded in your transition, eh? Such a sexy manly man, even 'I-loathe-all-humans' Juno couldn't resist mating with you."

"Eat a dick," Desmond said, flipping a vigorous middle finger at Shaun.

Shaun just laughed. "Oy, I would, but Lucy's dating _you_ , and Bill's past my acceptable age range. I can't very well eat my own!"

"Eat _shit_ , then."

"Enough!" barked William, stepping in between them. "We need to stay focused on our work."

 

* * *

 

When Desmond was starting to work his way through the third memory sequence, a hushed discussion took place about power sources. "Apparently even the high-and-mighty Isu had to change out batteries once in a while," Shaun said. "Well, probably get a human to do it for them, but you get my gist."

"Do we know where these batteries are?" William asked.

"I've located one down in the Financial District of Manhattan; not too long of a trek." Shaun glanced back at Desmond. "Becca, you think he'll be alright here with just you?"

Lucy frowned. "He might be pissed at being left out of the action."

"If he and that stonking great gut come along, the 'action' will be a _disaster_ ," Shaun answered. "It'll draw attention, fuck up his parkour, so on, so forth. We can't afford any screwups."

"Indeed we can't." William nodded. And so they headed out, waving bye to Rebecca.

 

* * *

 

_"May the Father of Understanding guide us."_

"Shit! Did you **see** that, guys?" Desmond swiveled out of the Animus. "He's a goddamn Templar! I can't believe-" He stopped suddenly, his whole body freezing up.

"Woah, you okay there, bud?"

He let out a frightened whimper.

"Desmond? What's happ-"

"I feel it," he said weakly. One of his hands shivered its way to his stomach. "I feel it," he repeated in a dismal sob.

Rebecca blinked. "Kicking?"

"There's really something in there." He closed his eyes and whimpered again.

"That's what we been trying to tell you."

"What the fuck, Becca." He collapsed onto the floor. "What the actual christing fuck."

 

* * *

 

"While y'all were out getting the power source, Desmond felt some kicking," Becca reported when the others had come back from Manhattan.

William gasped, coming to stand near Desmond. "You... felt it kicking?"

"Kicking or punching or doing _something_. Fuuuck." He turned his head up to stare mournfully at his father. "Dad... this sucks. I really am... But how? How the fuck am I pregnant? I... I haven't... I haven't with anybody! Never!"

William was pale. "I don't know exactly, Desmond."

Desmond gasped and clutched his stomach at another little motion inside him. "Whattya mean you don't know!? You guys've known this is growing inside me for how long, and you haven't even figured out something basic like that?" Lucy put a soft hand on his shoulder and he looked over to her. "You got any idea, Luce?"

"I'm guessing it was Juno."

"Oh god. I don't wanna have Juno's baby!" Desmond sobbed.

Lucy patted his shoulder again. "I'll help you through it."

"I don't wanna!" He was actually visibly crying now. "Juno or not, I- I don't wanna! I can't! You guys gotta have some way to get rid of it!"

"We don't have the equipment or the training for a termination this far along," William said, his eyes fixed rigidly on the ground.

"And we can't exactly go out to find someone who does," Shaun added quietly. "Templars and such."

Desmond mashed his hands into his eyes to hold back any further tears.

 

* * *

 

They kept on in the search through history for the amulet. They didn't have a choice in that either.

Desmond pointedly didn't stop giving himself T injections on the same schedule he always used to. If it had side effects on the thing Juno put in him, well fuck, he didn't give a shit. The shots made his stomach swirl with nausea, which hadn't used to happen before, but he threatened to throttle anyone who dared call it "morning sickness".

"Guys I don't feel too good," Desmond said one day while in the space between memories. "I'mma come up for a break real quick."

"Wait, you might want to-" Lucy sputtered, but oh, it was already too late.

After the loading area's bright white, Desmond blinked against the relative dark of the cave. "Whazzat, Luce? Oh, fuck."

Lucy sighed. "I was going to say, 'You might want to wait a few minutes, we're doing an ultrasound.'" She'd figured being conscious during the procedure would make him uncomfortable.

And she'd been right. He squirmed at the feel of the cold gel, and pushed Lucy's hand away when she tried to press the probe back against him. "Oh god. I think I'm gonna hurl."

"You've got a free pass on hurling, what with being pregnant, yo," Rebecca said, trying to keep things lighthearted.

"Didn't you already do an ultrasound?" Desmond asked, covering his eyes.

"We're doing another one," Lucy answered. "Need to make sure everything's still alright with the baby."

"Baby," Desmond repeated morosely. "I can't have a baby."

Shaun snorted. "You can and you will, mate. Unfortunately."

"And you're having it sooner than anticipated," William put in.

Desmond uncovered his eyes a smidge. "What? _When_?"

"Not nine months out, I can tell you that much," Lucy said, flipping through a reference book. "I can't really pin it down for sure, though. Sorry."

"Fuuuck."

Shaun scratched his scraggly beard. "I suppose this'll technically be a virgin birth, eh? Bloody hell, Des, you really are a little Johnny Special. Even if you were born a Janey."

Lucy punched Shaun's arm, _hard_.

 

* * *

 

Desmond woke in the middle of the night, the _thing_ thrashing inside him.

To make matters worse, Juno was there. And she was feeling chatty again. "Your world has suffered from a lack of consciousness. _My_ consciousness."

"Fuck off." Desmond punched her, but it was no use, she was only a projection, of course.

She smiled cruelly at his futile attempt. "Do you understand now, my soft tissue cipher? Your construction, your essential purpose in the world?"

"Look, bitch, I'm having a rough enough time already carrying your magical rape baby, I don't wanna hear about how that's somehow my 'purpose'. Just leave me alone."

"You are never alone. I am always with you."

"Hey, I got an idea to fix that." Desmond grabbed his nearby Hidden Blade and held it over his abdomen. "Leave me alone, or else little First-Civ Fuckface here bites the big one."

Juno looked coldly down her nose at him.

"I'll do it." He moved the blade-edge closer to his skin. "I'll fuckin' do it."

"You will not." Juno raised an arm casually; some invisible wave pulsed out of Desmond's belly and forced away his blade. "Though the unborn body be yet weak, defense against such actions is trivial."

Desmond tried again to cut himself, but was again rebuffed. He chucked the blade and bracer against the wall. "Fine! I'll just jump off a ledge somewhere! How d'ya like that?"

"And leave the world to burn?"

Desmond scowled.

Juno smirked. "Your path is known to me, vessel of my vessel. Your death shall come only at its appointed time, never before."

Her last sentence echoed, dully, as she faded, glittering, into the ancient stone. Desmond's head hurt. He turned over in his sleeping bag and tried to get back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

When they went out to retrieve the amulet, Desmond insisted on coming along. "No bloody way," Shaun said. "I know we don't have any mirrors 'round here, but still, you must realize you're fucking showing like you're ready to pop."

"No-one's gonna see me, dumbass, it's the middle of the night! Plus I'm fucking sick of being cooped up in here!"

So he rode in the back of the van, Lucy by his side and Shaun in the seat across from them. His fingers drummed antsily until Lucy's hand wrapped them up in a gentle hold. Even then, it seemed he was still restless, for his feet kept fitfully tapping to some nonexistent song.

"How you feeling, bud?" Rebecca asked him as the van rolled over uneven road and dirt.

"How d'ya fuckin' think I feel?" He slapped the side of his stomach. "Feel like a ridiculous joke. Can't wait 'till this thing is out. Hope it's soon."

"You hope you go into labor soon?" Shaun looked amusedly skeptical of this.

Desmond frowned intensely. "At least it'll be out and we can kill it."

"It _is_ half Juno."

"The First Civs aren't unkillable," Desmond said.

"You really want to kill it?"

"Fuckin' obviously."

Shaun adjusted his glasses. "Think about it, though. This could be good for us."

"Are you legitimately insane? How in the hell can me having Juno's baby be _good_?"

"I've been thinking on the subject for a while now." Shaun glanced down to Desmond's mound of a belly. "Even with only half her genes, it's bound to be powerful. Eagle Vision is just one of many advantages the Isu have on humans. If we raise that child up under our wing, sympathetic to our cause... it could really turn the tide in our favor."

"Using a child as a tool against the Templars doesn't seem right," Lucy said.

"Assassins have always raised their children to fight the Templars," Shaun answered, shrugging. "How is it suddenly less ethical in this situation?"

"Guys, I really don't wanna talk about this right now." Desmond closed his eyes and laid his head on Lucy's shoulder. His feet had stopped tapping and he just wanted to rest.

The windowless white van rolled along in a steady rhythm, cloaked in the darkness of uncertainty.

 

* * *

 

"He buried it here," Desmond said, kneeling in the rough grass. "With his namesake. The original Connor." He paused a moment in sad silent reflection before pushing himself up again and grabbing the shovel from Shaun.

As he worked to break up the old hardened ground, a dull twinge radiated in his back. He rubbed at it briefly.

Lucy, ever-perceptive, noticed the small gesture of discomfort. "You don't have to dig it, Desmond. Here, give me-"

Desmond cut her off. "I'm fine."

He kept digging, on his own, glad to have something to physically do besides being host to a traitorous womb. As he dug, William and Shaun offered their help as well but he turned them down too.

 

* * *

 

On the drive back, several more twinges visited themselves upon him. And he could swear the thing inside him had shifted somehow. He ignored it, though; they had a planet to save.

As they were getting back into the cave and he had to tackle the rope down the slope, he slipped at the last few feet and slid down into Rebecca. "You okay?" she asked him.

"I'm fine."

"What about baby?"

"Don't call it that," he said, but the words were a little strangulated. He looked toward the force field and started walking, but soon paused to rub his tortured back again.

"You **sure** you're okay?"

He breathed heavily for a few moments. "Just... tired. And sore. You know. The usual."

They walked forward to join the others. Lucy offered him a smile and he returned it as best he could. "I'm fine," he told her as well, anticipating her to also be concerned. "Save your worries for after we activate the whatever-it-is."

"I love you," Lucy said in response.

Desmond would have laughed if she hadn't sounded so earnest. "Me too, Luce. But, uh, what brought this on all of a sudden?" This was the first time either of them had said the L-word to each other.

"Just... end of the world, emotions running high, I guess." She shrugged. "I've felt this way for a while. Wanted to make sure you knew before..." Her smile faltered. "Before whatever's going to happen, happens."

Desmond looked past her to the cold blue glow in the distance, then back to her warm face. "Yeah. I get what you mean. Whatever's in there probably won't be a simple fix." He ran a hand over his hair and sighed. "But then again, nothing in my whole life has been 'simple', has it? The trans thing, the Assassin thing, the world-savior thing, the Juno baby thing... Oof." He kneaded knuckles into the small of his back. "Especially the Juno baby thing." He felt so full suddenly, like he might burst.

"You really sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he reiterated. After a couple more seconds, the fullness went away and he could breathe a little easier again. "Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled. "Y'know, having you with me almost makes this shit bearable."

"I like having you with me, too." Lucy put her palm atop his belly. "We could... be a family together."

Desmond looked like he wanted to protest this, but couldn't manage the words.

"Can we postpone the lovey-dovey baby talk?" Shaun snipped at them. "In case you forgot, the bloody planet's in danger!"

"Okay, jackass!" Lucy called, turning around and heading toward the force field. Desmond walked beside her, ungainly and wobbling, the amulet throbbing hot in his hand.

 

* * *

 

Once he passed the threshold of the no-longer-there barrier, something _clicked_ within him. He grimaced and made a long shuddering moan of unease.

"God, Des! You really are **not okay**!" Rebecca said, eyes wide.

He fell forward onto the orb, using it to support his too-heavy body. The ancient thing wasn't cold; in fact, it felt warm and inviting. He wanted to rest on it forever. For a moment, his body glowed with spectral energy.

Shaun noticed wetness slowly pooling on the floor at Desmond's feet. "Oh, Christ. Please tell me you've just wee'd your pants."

The soothing warmth faded and Desmond himself realized the dripping. "Um... Nooo," he said, the word drawn out with pain and a bit of shame.

William gasped. "This... Your waters have broken!"

"Yeeeah."

"God, what bloody timing!" Shaun said with a bark of laughter. "Of course it'd happen on the very day of reckoning!"

Desmond groaned, losing himself to an influx of further pain, and his legs started to give out. Lucy and Rebecca rushed forward and helped sit him down against the orb's supporting mini-pillar.

"Shit, shit, shit, I had a feeling something was happening with him, shit," Rebecca muttered, untying Desmond's shoes in preparation for taking off his pants. "He's been in fucking labor probably for hours."

Lucy pressed a trembling kiss to his forehead and urged him to "Stay strong."

William was stood frozen again, hand on his chin, uncertain what to do or say. "Desmond, that glow... Is it done? Are we safe? Is the _world_ safe?"

Struggling for breath, Desmond leaned back against Lucy. His skin was burning hot and his overstretched shirt was drenched in sweat. "I hhh- hope so," he managed to say, "but with my luck, who knows?"

"Don't worry about that now," Lucy said to him. "Right now you've got to focus on having your baby."

"Sure, fine, then we can all be one big happy family," he said, only half sarcastic. Then he tensed into another grimace, voice becoming barely recognizable, a pitched cry he could no longer suppress. Increasing pain shook his legs badly and he almost kicked Rebecca in the face as she was lifting a shoe off.

Juno and Minerva picked that moment to appear.

"Er, can you give us a minute here?" Shaun asked them. "We've got a medical issue on our hands."

Minerva was distraught as she took in the sight before her. "Your medicines cannot help him."

"What about **your** medicine, then? Some souped-up paracetamol for the pain, or-"

"We are gone from this world, and can do no more."

"Soon, though, that is about to change. Ah, Desmond." Juno floated her incorporeal form over to him and stroked his swollen stomach. "You have carried my vessel well."

Desmond made a "Huuurrh" sound. Lucy tried to shoo Juno away.

"I'm sorry, your vessel? What exactly-"

Minerva cut off Shaun's question by roaring "Your actions are utterly reprehensible!" at Juno.

"It was necessary," she purred, continuing to stroke.

Four of the five humans yelled overlapping angry obscenities at her, some more obscene than others.

The fifth human arched his back and gripped his aching belly. "Oh god, help! Someone help!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Rebecca finally managed to get his pants down. "Woah. There's- there's a lot of blood here, guys."

"He was meant to have a _choice!_ " Minerva shouted.

"They are but machines, meant to serve us!" Juno flung back at her.

Desmond was curled forward, sobbing, grunting with involuntary effort. "Aah! Fuck!" More blood spurted from him with each stacking spasm. "Make it stop!"

Juno rose up from the ground. "My plan is in motion and will not be torn asunder." She grinned. "Unlike you."

"Oh shiiiit," Shaun said, eyes dropping down to stare at his friend writhing in agony. He remembered now some Abstergo file compiling data on the physiology of the Isu race. Brains much larger than any hominid, and consequently, a skull much larger. As for _Desmond's_ physiology... well, whatever his sex, he certainly didn't have what one would call "child-bearing hips".

William was now at Desmond's side with Lucy. He shouted a desperate plea to Juno, to Minerva, to anyone who could help, but it was drowned out by Desmond's yells and another sound: an otherworldly warble from the orb as it glowed again.

Juno laughed, shrill and high. "Thus, my cue. This simulacrum is no longer needed," she said as her projection started to fade.

"Desmond! Desmond!" Lucy yelled. His eyes were closed and he no longer had breath for screaming. "Stay with us!"

A vicious _crack_ of bone echoed in the cave.

Shaun was back to being horrified.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Seed (Fix-It Version)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123893) by [Assassin_J](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J), [Hack_Generation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hack_Generation/pseuds/Hack_Generation)




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